Electronic devices and machines have become an everyday part of life in modern times, as even many traditionally non-electronic items and machines have now gone “high-tech.” While machines such as coin-operated video games, ticket purchasing machines and other types of vending machines have long been electronic, items such as automobiles, washing machines, coffee makers and other appliances now tend to be electronic as well. Many of these electronic machines and items include various input, output and/or functional result devices and components, such that the overall design, manufacture, use and repair of such electronic machines has become increasingly complex.
Casinos and other forms of gaming are a particular example of an industry where electronic machines, such as, for example, microprocessor based gaming machines, are extremely popular. In a typical electronic gaming machine, such as a slot machine, video poker machine, video keno machine or the like, a game play is first initiated through a player wager of money or credit, whereupon the gaming machine determines a game outcome, presents the game outcome to the player and then potentially dispenses an award of some type, including a monetary award, depending upon the game outcome. Electronic and microprocessor based gaming machines can include a variety of hardware and software components to provide a wide variety of game types and game playing capabilities, with such hardware and software components being generally well known in the art. A typical electronic gaming machine can include hardware devices and peripheral such as bill validators, coin acceptors, card readers, keypads, buttons, levers, touch screens, coin hoppers, player tracking units and the like. In addition, each gaming machine can have various audio and visual display components that can include, for example, speakers, display panels, belly and top glasses, exterior cabinet artwork, lights, and top box dioramas, as well as any number of video displays of various types to show game play and other assorted information, with such video display types including, for example, a cathode ray tube (“CRT”), a liquid crystal display (“LCD”), a light emitting diode (“LED”), a flat panel display and a plasma display, among others.
As noted above, the design and manufacture of such gaming machines and other electronic machines has become increasingly complex, particularly with the advent of multiple displays, sound output devices, touchscreens, buttons, currency acceptors, card acceptors and an assortment of other peripheral devices that may be part of such machines. One type of item that can be found on many such machines is a “button panel” having a plurality of input buttons that are arranged or configured in a particular fashion for a user of the machine. As is generally known, buttons for such button panels tend to be relatively large and spaced apart from each other in a fashion that is distinctive from smaller keypad types of buttons and arrangements. In particular, such button panels can be found, for example, on coin-operated video games, video poker machines, video keno machines, electronic slot machines, and the like. One example of a generally well-known button panel could be the arrangement of buttons that typically exist on a video poker machine, the button panel for which can include one hold/drop button for each video poker card, a deal/draw button, a repeat bet button, one or more other betting buttons, a cash out button, and/or a service button, among others. While the entire collection of these buttons on the front panel of the video poker machine can be generally be referred to as the “button panel” for that machine, such a button panel might also include one or more other buttons located elsewhere about the machine, or could be a subset of all of the buttons on the front panel of the machine, as may be desired.
While button panels such as the general video poker button panel as noted above can be the same or substantially similar on the same type of machines, the numbers and configurations of such buttons can differ substantially between different models and types of machines. For example, while one slot machine or video game might have six rectangular buttons arranged in a line on a front button panel, the next slot machine or video game might have seven circular buttons arranged or configured in a more artful fashion on an otherwise similar front button panel. Because the numbers and configurations of such button panels can vary widely from one machine type or model to another, it is typical for each of such differing types and models of machine to be designed and manufactured in a customized manner. That is, every different model of gaming machine or other similar electronic device having a button panel typically requires that a separate assessment be made of the buttons, wiring and other parts needed to construct its particular button panel.
As is generally known, such button panels for gaming machines and other similar devices are typically made with customized wiring that runs from each button to another button and/or to one or more processing devices adapted to process input from the various buttons. While such wiring can be organized in various ways, such as through the use of harnesses and/or coupling devices so as to streamline the manufacturing and/or repair processes, it is typically incumbent upon those making the machine to individually connect and solder the endpoints of each wire. This can tend to be a labor intensive process, requiring the expenditure of significant amounts of time and resources to simply wire each button individually. Such customized wiring of buttons individually for each machine can lead to additional problems whenever a mistake is made in the wiring process, the detection and resolution of which can also be costly and time consuming. Furthermore, the repair or switching out of buttons or other defective components can also be costly and time consuming processes where such buttons have been individually wired in a customized manner.
Various attempts have been made to provide improved button panels, details of which may be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,102,394 and 6,117,010, as well as U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0018877, which references are each incorporated herein by reference. While the various features of these references may provide some benefits regarding button panels, there still remain a variety of drawbacks. For example, the overall configurable and reconfigurable nature of these button panels is not as flexible as may be desired for some manufacturing and repair situations. Furthermore, it does not appear that these button panels have any particularized identifying features, nor are there any specialized processing components or arrangements associated with these button panels, such as to identify missing, malfunctioning or wrongly configured buttons on the button panel.
While existing designs and systems for providing button panels in electronic devices and machines have been adequate in the past, improvements are usually welcomed and encouraged. In light of the foregoing, it is thus desirable to develop a more universal and flexible button panel that is adapted to be used in different models of machines, such that the manufacture, use and repair of such a button panel would be streamlined significantly.
Regarding such a more universal and flexible button panel, it is generally known that sophisticated buttons now exist having small display screens thereupon. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,798,359, and 7,071,845, which are each incorporated herein by reference, both teach of buttons having 16×16 pixel LCD screens disposed thereupon. While these particular buttons are used within the context of a keypad, it is generally known that such uses may extend to non-keypad type buttons and button panels. However, the use of such display embedded buttons within wager based gaming machines can present additional problems unique to gaming machines.
As is generally known, electronic wager based gaming machines typically include a master gaming controller (“MGC”) that is responsible for many or all primary gaming machine functions, particularly all random number generator and game determination outcomes, outcome displays, monetary and ticket intake, payouts, user input processing, and various security functions. In addition, the burden for processing many other gaming machine functions tend to be placed on the MGC, with such other functions typically including video and display processing. With the advent of secondary, tertiary and further displays, however, as well as more sophisticated animations, displays and video, the display processing burdens alone that can now be placed on the MGC have become immense. Adding further displays for a plurality of buttons, along with the accompanying processing needs, can only serve to aggravate this existing problem.
Accordingly, while existing gaming machine architectures and designs for providing multiple display processing have been adequate in the past, improvements are usually welcomed and encouraged. In light of the foregoing, it is thus desirable to develop a more dynamic display system that is adapted to be used in sophisticated gaming machines having multiple displays, such that the burdens and drawbacks of relying upon a master gaming controller to do all or much of the display processing for the entire gaming machine can be significantly reduced.